This fall, to the frustration of many conservatives, Ted Strickland won the endorsement of the National Rifle Association and Buckeye Firearms Association.
According to the NRA, Strickland earned an A+ for being “a legislator with not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment.”
Well, it seems his bitter loss this past November has helped show Ted Strickland’s true colors.
Twice the Governor had an opportunity to put forth a “vigorous effort to promote and defend the second amendment”. Twice he failed.
First came the opportunity presented to Strickland from State Representative Danny Bubp:
Rep. Danny Bubp says he has collected the 50 signatures needed to force a House floor vote on a controversial bill that would allow Ohio permit holders to carry concealed handguns into bars and other places that serve alcohol.
The West Union Republican, is utilizing a rare discharge petition to force a pair of bills out of a House committee and into the full House, circumventing Speaker Armond Budish’s control of the matter. Both bills have already passed the Senate.
This is a bill that would have passed the House and been sent to the Governor for signature, if just given the opportunity by Speaker Budish.
While the Governor announced he would sign the bill, he never utilized the bully pulpit to call for his fellow Democrat to allow the bill to go to the floor for a vote. It was so simple. If Strickland had publicly lobbied the Speaker, the pressure would have been too great and Budish would have needed to relent. Alas, he didn’t, and Budish never reconvened the House, leaving the bill to die. Is that a “vigorous effort”?
But it’s Strickland’s appointment to the Ohio Supreme Court that was a full-on moon to the NRA and Buckeye Firearms Association.
In mid-December, Ted Strickland appointed his running mate, Yvette McGee Brown, to the highest court in Ohio.
Yvette McGee Brown received an F from the NRA.
What do F’s mean? “True enemy of gun owners’ rights. A consistent anti-gun candidate who always opposes gun owners’ rights and/or actively leads anti-gun legislative efforts, or sponsors anti-gun legislation.”
And this is the person Ted Strickland deems most qualified to interpret and rule on Ohio’s gun laws.
When he appointed her, the Governor said Brown would be “a wise and compassionate voice for the most vulnerable.”
With all due respect, that’s ri-damn-diculous.
The job description of a Supreme Court Justice has nothing to do with working to represent one constituency over another. Instead it requires interpreting the law equally and fairly, no matter who it affects.
So is this appointment Strickland’s way of putting forth a “vigorous effort to promote and defend the second amendment”?
Absolutely not.
In fact, it’s just the opposite. His rationale for appointing her speaks directly to her politics and perspective – not her ability to do her job properly. Well, Governor, her politics and perspective earned her an F from the NRA and you deemed her fit to have a seat on the Supreme Court.
Ted Strickland is not the champion of 2nd amendment activists that they thought he was. And now that he’s leaving office, he’s shown his true colors.
